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How Long Can We Avoid Long-Term Care?

by David Gorn

Monday, October 3, 2011

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How Long Can We Avoid Long-Term Care?

by David GornMonday, October 3, 2011

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At a conference in Sacramento last week, advocates kept calling it a crisis in care in California -- and at the same time acknowledging that citizens' and policymakers' eyes seem to glaze over whenever the subject of long-term care comes up.

Given the huge swell of about-to-be-seniors who will need care in California, it's certainly an important subject. One of the touchstones of the conference was that the long-term care world needs a new, less scary way of framing the issue -- it needs to develop a new language.

Because it can be so difficult to engage Californians on the subject, the legislative infrastructure has not yet been fully set up. According to Diana Dooley, secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency, there is a lot of room right now for input on the subject.

"There is not a grand plan on the books," Dooley said. "We are very open to ideas and suggestions."

Cost-cutting and budget reductions in health care are hopefully near an end, she said, and that could mean there's a big opportunity now to help form a wider, more comprehensive plan around this issue.

"So I didn't come here with a grand plan, but I do want it to be different from how it has felt this year," Dooley said. "Sometimes it's felt a little like Pickett's Charge this year."

But this is a winnable battle now, Dooley said. "I can tell you, we will provide services to the people who need it," she said.

To do that effectively, according to Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of The SCAN Foundation, which sponsored the long-term care summit, you need to begin at the beginning.

"We have to come up with a better language set," Chernof said. "Long-term care means nursing home to most people, and that's not what we're talking about."

Even when policymakers want to do something about long-term care, he said, they're often stymied by not being able to discuss it in ways people can relate to it.

"We have to help elected officials have simpler, clearer, people-centered language that they can use," Chernof said.

Gretchen Alkema of The SCAN Foundation said that changing policy in Sacramento starts with framing those proposals as being within reach, able to be accomplished.

That same dynamic applies to most Californians, Chernof said. "We have to correct public misconceptions about long-term care," he said. "Most people think, well, I'm not going to need this. And that's not true, that's inaccurate."

The irony, Alkema said, is that people's willful ignorance is over a subject with which everyone will eventually have to grapple. "To most people, it can sound too long, too expensive and too difficult to tackle," Alkema said, "but more and more of these issues are hitting home in people's own living rooms."

Chernof said the concepts of dignity, choice and independence all resonate with lawmakers, and with Californians."Don't go to the usual line," he said. "The phrase 'long-term services and support,' it may be better than 'long-term care,' but really, the goal is to come up with a better language set. Really, it's about dignity and choice and independence. That's what long-term care is."

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Individuals over age 55 need advocates (who are supervised by Public Health Nurses) to guide them
through a very complicated and broken Medical
System. Many of them are completely unaware of what their insurance plans cover. They don't know
what their rights are don't think they have a right to ask their questions.

October 03, 2011 at 11:45 PM

Barbara Hanson

I despair over anyone actually promoting LTC insurance that actually can "fix" a lot of the LTC issue for the middle class and others. Articles and stories abound in the press about the heartache and difficulties for families and caregivers, but heaven forbid someone adds,"and did you know there is insurance that is affordable that can take care of this for you?" Our state was the early adopter of a way to get quality care as well as preserve assets from Medi-Cal spend-down, yet the California Partnership for Long-Term Care (CPLTC) is rarely if ever mentioned by the same government that instituted it. Talk to the public, and most have no clue insurance for LTC even exists. Everybody knows about hiding/shifting assets to qualify for Medi-Cal, but few realize the consequences--no home care, no assisted living, just a bed in a nursing home w/ strangers. They could have had more care at home w/ dignity and independence and still preserved their assets for the kids w/ the CPLTC.

October 03, 2011 at 5:25 PM

Tammy Pilisuk

I sure would love to know if and how to provide public comment. This is an issue near and dear to my heart. Ongoing supportive care not otherwise covered by your medical isurance is something most people don't know they need until they need it--at which point you cannot buy it for any price.

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About Capitol Desk

Capitol Desk is a daily report covering health care policy and politics from California Healthline's Sacramento Bureau. Have an idea? Let us know.

About David Gorn

Senior Reporter David Gorn is based in Sacramento and covers health care and policy. He has been deputy news director of KQED public radio, a reporter for National Public Radio, and an editor at a number of newspapers and magazines across Northern California, including the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and San Jose Mercury News. Gorn has also taught journalism at San Francisco State University. You can email him at capitoldesk@chcf.org.